Bring on the Rain
by secondhandsmile
Summary: In which Leah reaches her breaking point, and Jacob imprints. Leah/Jacob
1. Chapter 1

Title: Bring on the Rain

Summary: In which Leah reaches her breaking point, and Jacob imprints. Will be multiple chapters...

Pairings: Leah/Jacob (my new obsession)

Spoilers: Written after reading Eclipse, but before reading the sneak-peak chapter of Breaking Dawn

Rating: M-ish for some nudity latter on (the post-phasing-can't-help-it kind, not the let's-get-it-on kind) and some slight over-use of the F word... when werewolves get pissed, they get _pissed..._

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to the awesomely awesome Stephenie Meyer. I'm just playing with them a little, but I'll return them in one piece, promise. Title borrowed from the song "Thunder" by Boys Like Girls.

A/N: Okay, so, I need to learn to check my facts BEFORE I start fanfic'ing it up. I wrote this and then said... hmm... let's go back and look at Eclipse to see how accurate it is... I rule. So anyway, for the sake of this fic, just pretend that on page 124 of Eclipse, Jacob DOESN'T say that Leah's going to be a bride's maid. My story and I much appreciate it.

* * *

It had been two weeks since Jacob had left. Three days since he'd been back. And a week until Bella Swan's wedding.

He hadn't gone very far, relatively speaking. He stayed within the state of Washington, at least, running through the woods as fast and as far as he dared. He toyed with the idea of never going back. He could stay out there, forever in wolf form, but deep down, he knew it would never be enough, would never make it better. Besides, Billy needed him. And the pack, his brothers. He couldn't abandon them. They were just as much his family as Billy.

Billy hadn't said much when Jacob returned, wandering into the house at eight in the morning, his face a sad mix of bitter shame. Billy just looked at his son with tired eyes, understanding that there wasn't much to be said, and placed his hand firmly but warmly on his shoulder.

"Welcome home, son."

Jacob nodded stiffly, not daring to say anything lest he break the careful (albeit false) composure it took him two weeks to construct. He shut himself in his room and didn't leave the house for two days. He didn't want to see any of the pack. Not yet, at least. The only temptation might have been the beach, but it was a place too full of Bella, and after the run-in he'd had with Leah... He could still feel the sarcasm rolling off her like waves.

"_Really, kid. You have no idea how hard this is for me."_

The beach was the last thing he needed right now.

* * *

The third day after he'd been back found him out in the woods with his brothers. And sister, if he counted Leah, though he rarely did.

Though the trouble with the army of newborn vampires was behind them, Sam insisted that they not get sloppy and continue making runs of the woods.

"Better safe than sorry," he'd said as he all but dragged Jacob out of his bed and into the twilight.

Besides, he'd said, it was time Jacob got back in the swing of things.

* * *

The night was incredibly typical. They'd split up into small groups and gone off as directed by Sam. With the lack of trouble brewing, their thoughts were predictable. Jared thought of Kim. Quil was hungry. Leah's mind was terrible as ever, breaking Sam's concentration, causing the usual thoughts of pity and remorse to seep through the otherwise constant stream of directions and orders.

Jacob tried unsuccessfully to keep his thoughts off of Bella. He settled for non-nondescript bike-fixing memories, hoping they'd be generic enough to keep the pack, especially Leah, from giving him any crap about it. But grudgingly he had to admit to himself that he'd gladly take Leah's bullshit over the well-meaning but ineffectual sympathies of his brothers any day.

The night was ending. The sun would be rising in just an hour or so. The pack, still in wolf-form, made their way to a small clearing a few miles from Billy's to wrap up the evening before going back to their respective houses. It had been a long night of listening to thoughts he didn't want to hear, especially his own.

Leah agreed.

"God, Jacob, try and be a little more pathetic tomorrow night, okay?"

"Shut up, Leah."

"Hey, I'm just saying. If you're gonna do it, do it right."

They were all converging on the clearing now, changing back into human form. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about," Jacob said through gritted teeth as he pulled on the shorts he'd had tied around his ankle, and the rest of the boys followed suit.

"I think you know exactly what I'm talking about." An ugly smile adorned her face as she lazily pulled the blue sun dress she stashed in a tree at the beginning of the evening over her head. "You think you can fool us all with your sappy little bicycle memories, but it's a waste, Jake. I thought two weeks out in the woods would find you a little smarter, but clearly..." She trailed off, shaking her head and smirking at the sight of Jacob's clenched fists.

The rest of the pack hung back watching. They were all used to Leah's tantrums by now, but didn't dare say anything to her with Sam standing so near. Sam himself never quite knew how to handle her, torn between his own guilt and the desire to tell her to give it a rest, already.

"The wedding is in a week. She's marrying that blood-sucker and she's never coming back to you, no matter how hard you pine."

"Screw you, Leah."

She rolled her eyes. "Real original, Jake."

The anger in him continued to boil as his eyes narrowed, dark, in Leah's direction. "Oh, really, Leah. You want to talk about originality? What about you?!"

"What _about_ me?" Her eyes mirrored his, glaring straight into him.

"Two weeks hasn't seemed to make _you _any smarter, either. I come back and you're _still _thinking about Sam all the time."

It was her turn to ball her fists, her entire body tensing. The pack seemed to tense up, too. People said a lot of things, both to and about Leah, but never that blunt, never in front of the whole pack, never in front of Sam.

"You want to call me pathetic? Then what the fuck does that make you?"

"Shut up, Jacob," she hissed at him.

"No. This is bullshit, Leah. Everyone's too afraid to say something to you in front of the pack, and Sam's so goddamn protective of you, like you deserve it."

"Jacob..." Sam said warily, taking a step forward.

"Fuck you, Sam," Leah shot in his direction, "He wants to say it, let him say it. _Let him fucking say it._" It was all the invitation he needed.

"Night after night, thinking the same bullshit thoughts, trying to make Sam feel bad for being happy with Emily. Like you've got some sort of claim over him." He paused, expecting Leah to jump in with a scathing comment of her own, but she just continued to stand there, tense, narrowed eyes cutting into him.

"Look around you, Leah. You're a freak. Even in a bunch of werewolves, you're still a freak. A joke. They've all imprinted. Jared with Kim. Quil with Claire. _Sam with Emily_. Maybe I haven't yet, but I will. But last time I checked, no one's imprinted on _you. _Fate won't be that cruel to any of us."

He could hear what he was saying, knew it was cruel. He could see the anger on her face falter slightly, almost slipping to sadness every time he mentioned Sam, but it seemed all the anger and frustration he'd felt over the last few months was quickly boiling over; he couldn't stop himself even if he'd wanted to.

"Imprinting's fate, Leah. It's two people, meant for each other. You think he loved you, you think you're better for him than Emily, but you were nothing, Leah. _Nothing! _A mistake, bad enough that even _fate_ felt the need to step in and correct.

"Maybe I am pining over Bella, but at least I know she loves me. Maybe not the way I want her to, not like I felt for her, but I know, in some way or other, she does. But guess what, Leah? Bitch all you want, make everyone around you miserable, but at the end of the day, he was never your's. Not for a second. He was _always_ Emily's. He probably would've left you, imprint or not, you're such a bitch! No one wants to be around you, no one can stand it! I know it. You know it. The pack knows it. The whole damn reservation knows it! So get the fuck over yourself."

Silence reigned over the clearing as Jacob ceased. The whole pack seemed to be bracing themselves, ready to pull Leah off of Jacob; she would surely attack him now.

Leah stood opposite Jacob, frozen in her spot. Her eyes were black with fury, her breathing heavy. She growled at Jacob and bent her body as if about to pounce. But she didn't. She looked at the other members of the pack, all except Sam, whose eyes she avoided at all costs, and then looked back at Jacob, holding back nothing in her expression.

Jacob remembered the pictures he'd seen in Sam's head of Bella, the night he'd found her in the woods, the night Edward left. Bella had looked so small, so pale and fragile. Catatonic, someone had said.

Leah looked nothing like that.

She was not numb. She was not fragile. She was far too broken for that. The look on her face cut deep to the bone. He had seen a look of pain cross her features for a moment that day on the beach, but that had been fleeting, and easily pushed aside. The anguish and pure, raw pain he saw on her now could not be ignored. She tore her broken eyes from him and, throwing her head back to the moon, let out a scream more primal than anything she could have produced in her wolf form.

It happened so quickly, they barely saw it happen at all. She threw herself toward the break in the trees, transforming mid-air. The shredded remnants of her pale blue sun dress scattered across the forest floor as she ran out of sight.

Jacob stared after her until he could no longer see her. There was a sudden shift in the air. A feeling washed over him, heavy; nondescript, but palpable. Not remorse. Much more than that. So much more.

Jacob dared to turn back to his brothers. They all stood in various sates of sock and discomfort, staring at the ground, unsure of what they should say or do, if they should even move at all. Seth's tired eyes told Jacob that, shocked as the rest of them may be, he was used to seeing his sister this way.

"I hear her cry, at home, when she thinks no one is listening," Seth said, so quietly Jacob wasn't sure he'd said it at all.

He knew he'd hurt her, rubbed salt in fresh wounds; tore them open for all to see. The pain in her eyes was already irreversibly etched in his mind; her scream played on repeat in his ears.

Had there been any lingering doubt in his mind that he'd said too much, pushed her too far, the pain and disappointment painted across Sam's features confirmed it.


	2. Chapter 2

A few nights later found Jacob back in the clearing with the rest of the pack, except Leah. His eyes kept scanning the perimeter, trying to inconspicuously catch her arrival. But she didn't show. He glanced at Seth, wondering if he knew what was up. Seth, his face tired, lost in thought, wouldn't meet anyone's gaze.

Next to him, Embry was getting restless. "It's already after ten. Where is she?"

"Maybe she's not coming," Quil said.

"Yeah, right," Jared muttered. "She'd never miss an opportunity to make us all miserable."

"Quiet, Jared. All of you." Sam had been standing on the outside of the group, more silent than usual. He walked to the center of the group, causing them to part around him. "Leah will be here. I told her we were meeting at 10:30 so I would have plenty of time to tell all of you that you will give her a break tonight. I know what you all think of her, but I do not care. You will not make it harder for her. Not tonight." Jacob caught a look of understanding pass between Seth and Sam. "I don't care what she says or does or thinks. I don't care how much she tries to provoke you. You say nothing. You think nothing. That's an order."

He scanned over the pack. "Do I make myself clear?" he said, calm, with control.

They all nodded. They glanced away or looked at the ground, skeptical, unable to understand the sudden concern for Leah. Jacob dared to look back at Sam. Their eyes met. Though not in wolf-form, silent communication passed between the two. Jacob could feel it. Sam carried his guilt with him like a weight around him neck, but he couldn't be the one to fix her.

Jacob understood. Sam knew, about the other night. About the feeling that had washed over Jacob like a summer storm. He knew what it meant. And Jacob knew that Sam was counting on him.

* * *

Leah arrived a few minutes later. Her shoulders were hunched and her hair hung around her in a limp curtain. Her face was empty. She looked at no one, spoke not a word. She waited for Sam to give out the night's orders, then pulled off her yellow sun dress quickly and stashed it in a tree. She phased without a word and ran off in the direction Sam had directed her and Paul.

Jacob noticed something odd that night. They had all expected a storm. After Sam's warning, they prepared themselves for the hurricane in the form of Leah that was sure to rip through them.

But nothing happened.

Leah wasn't thinking anything terrible. She wasn't lashing out. But she wasn't controlling her thoughts, either.

She was thinking nothing.

Her mind seemed to be completely empty. The only indication they had that she was even still in wolf-form were her answers to Sam. Every so often he'd ask her a question about her position or if she saw anything around her. _**Yes. No. Nothing. West. Fine. **_And that was all.

When they finished patrolling in the early morning hours, they all reconvened in the clearing, transforming back into human-form. Jacob watched as Leah phased, paying no mind to the others. She grabbed her dress and, clutching it in front of her, stood in the back of the pack, leaning against a tree, head drooping, eyes vacant.

Sam went over a few quick things before dismissing them. The boys wandered off in the directions of their respective houses. Leah remained propped up against the tree.

Seth approached her and put his hand lightly on her arm. "You coming?" he asked quietly.

"Tell Mom I'll be home for dinner."

He nodded and headed home.

Sam and Jacob were the only ones left lingering besides Leah. Sam looked torn, as if he felt he should do something, say something to her, but couldn't see far enough beyond Emily to ever really be what she needed. It killed him to see her like this, Jacob could see it, but Emily came first, now and always. Leah was on her own.

She lifted her head, staring at Sam with empty eyes. She let out a heavy, pained sigh before suddenly phasing and tearing off through the woods, dress clutched between her teeth. Jacob looked at Sam, whose thoughts were obvious even in his human form.

_**Find her. Help her. Fix her.**_


	3. Chapter 3

Jacob transformed and took off through the woods after her. He followed her, focusing on her thoughts. They were jumbled; a mess. He caught pieces here and there, small thoughts that she seemed unable to keep from her subconscious._** Wedding...Flowers...Emily...Pain...Hurts...Selfish...Sam...**_

After a few moments, her thoughts stopped. She could have been blocking them out all together, but Jacob thought maybe she'd reached her destination and gone back to her human-form. He continued to follow her scent to a small opening in the trees. Leah stood in the middle of the small clearing, facing away from him. She stared off in the distance, focused on nothing. Jacob, back in human-form and pulling on his shorts, tried his best to ignore the fact that she stood there in front of him, naked, her sun dress discarded and forgotten on the ground. His eyes glanced over her body, embarrassed at his own lack of restraint.

She was taller now that she was a wolf. Not as tall as the rest of the pack, but taller than most of the other women on the reservation. Her whole body was lean and sleek, her tan skin mesmerizing in the soft glow of the early sun. Her long dark hair blew behind her in soft waves. She was powerful and beautiful. Jacob knew she had always been so; being a wolf only enhanced it.

The power imprinting had over Sam must have been immeasurable, Jacob thought, because Leah was incredible. He had always liked Emily, usually better than Leah, but looking at her now; now knowing the things he knew, feeling as he did, he couldn't understand how anyone could give her up.

"You followed me," she said simply, breaking the silence without turning around.

"Yeah..." he said uncertainly, releasing the breath he'd been holding. He shuffled forward a little, unsure of what to do now that he was there.

"Sam talked to you all, before I got here."

"Yeah... how'd you know? We weren't supposed to think about it..."

"You weren't."

"Oh."

"I kind of figured it out when Seth tried leaving early without me."

Jacob shifted uncomfortably. Leah still hadn't turned around. "What did he say to you?"

"He said... um... you know, not to bug you. Ignore you if you were being, you know..."

"A bitch?"

He sighed. "Yeah."

Her lip quivered, and her shoulders began to shake with unshed tears. "Fuck him," she choked, her voice cracking as her composure broke completely. "_Fuck him_," she said with less conviction, barely getting it out between sobs.

She sank down to the ground, head in her hands as she continued to cry. Jacob went to her, knelt down to gather her in his arms and hold her close to her chest.

"You were right," she sobbed. "You were right. Sam doesn't want me. He's not mine, he _never_ loved me. He could he when he knows what it's like to love Emily? I _was_ a mistake, a _worthless_ mistake." Her body shook violently as she cried; Jacob felt his heart tear for the beautiful, broken girl in his arms.

"Shh... Leah, c'mon. Don't think that. It's not true. It's not true," he murmured into her ear, running his fingers through her hair.

"Yes it is."

"No, it's not. Leah, I'm sorry I said it. I didn't mean it, not really. I was frustrated and I took it out on you. Leah, I'm a jackass. I'm sorry."

His apologies only seemed to make her cry harder.

"I'm so sorry, Leah," he said softly into her hair.

"It's not... that's not... that's not why I'm out here, like this..." she said, hesitantly.

He looked down at her, worried. "Did something happen?"

Her body tensed again as she bit her lip hard, eyes cast down. She nodded.

"What?"

"I..." she trailed off, trying nearly unsuccessfully to hold onto any sense of composure, her eyes refusing to leave the ground.

"Leah?"

"She asked me to be a bride's maid," she blurted out quickly, as if the quicker she said it, the less it would hurt.

"What?"

"Emily," Leah sighed, defeated. "Earlier tonight. She asked me if I would be her maid of honor."

The exhausted pain in her voice was evident. It killed Jacob to see her like this. It didn't matter that only three nights prior he had thought her nothing but a bitter harpy. It didn't matter that these new feelings were not of his own choosing (though, really, are they ever?). He looked at Leah, crumbled in his arms, and for a flash of a moment, he hated Sam and Emily. No wonder she'd been so blank all night. Sam's warning made sense now. What Jacob couldn't understand was why they'd even asked. She masked it with contempt, and pissed the pack off to no end, but it didn't take a genius to see how hurt she'd been the last year. Sam knew that better than anyone, and for Emily to ask that of her, to Jacob it seemed... stupid. A wave of protectiveness washed over him and he held her tighter. Hadn't she been through enough?

"What did you say?" he asked as fresh tears began streaming down her face.

"I said no," she said, choking back a sob as she finally looked him in the eye, silently pleading with him to understand. "I said no. I _had _to say no. I can't do it, Jake. I just can't. I wanted so badly to say yes. We've been talking about our weddings since we were ten. I would be her maid of honor and she would be mine. But I never thought... it's wrong, it's all... wrong... I was supposed to... he wasn't supposed to... oh god!" Leah cried out as fresh sobs wracked her body. She buried herself into Jacob's chest as he held her. He stayed silent, being what she needed; something to hold onto.

After a few moments, she calmed down again a little, Jacob waiting patiently for her to begin talking again.

"It hurt her that I said no, but she's not... we just aren't _us_ anymore, you know?

Ever since... everything... we've barely spoken. We haven't been alone in the same room together for months. I can barely look at her. I just hate her so much sometimes. And I feel guilty for hating her because logically I know it isn't her fault, but then I just hate her more for making me feel guilty when I'm the one whose heart got broken!

If I can barely look at her, how am I supposed to stand beside her on the altar while she marries the only man I've ever really loved? God, Jake, I wanted to say yes to her, I really did. She's my family, my blood, but–" she stopped, shaking her head, tears welling up again. "I'm so stupid. You probably hate me more now than you already did."

"No, Leah, that's not true. Don't stop because you think that. Say whatever you need to say." He ran a hand comfortingly through her hair.

"I just... it was supposed to be my wedding! It was supposed to be me standing next to him, just like he always promised me. How can I watch from the sidelines with some fake smile on my face when I spent my entire childhood thinking the ring she's wearing was going to be mine?"

Jacob sighed for what seemed to him the millionth time that night. He'd been suffering for Bella the last few months. Sam had been Leah's life for years.

"Did you say all that to Emily? What did she say?"

Leah shook her head. "When she asked me, I just sort of sat there for a while, staring at her like an idiot. I mean, I knew they were planning on getting... but then she was asking me and all of a sudden it was real. I didn't know what to say. I just sort of shook my head, got up and left. Walked home. She didn't try and stop me or anything, but she must have called my mother 'cause she was waiting for me on the porch when I finally got back. She was so pissed. We really got into it. She kept yelling at me that I had to do it, that it wasn't my choice. That I was selfish and awful and you don't do that to family. I told her that usually family members don't steal each other's boyfriends."

"What'd she say to that?"

"Pretty much told me to grow up," she said with a shrug. "But that's how it is with everybody. It's fate so I should just grow up and deal. Always fate. Never choice. Sam didn't have a choice about Emily. I didn't get a choice about being a werewolf. Apparently I don't have a choice about being a bride's maid, either. I'm so sick of every not being about choice."

"You're not going to do it, are you?"

"No, regardless of what my mother says. Maybe I _am_ being a childish bitch, but everybody just keeps expecting me to be strong for everyone else's sake. It's exhausting."

"But you are strong, Leah. You're one of the strongest people I know."

"I thought I was just a bitter harpy?" she said, bitter sarcasm lacing her words.

"We're idiots, Leah. And you_ are _strong. I ran away from my pain. You have your's head-on every day."

"Oh, yeah. That's me. Real strong. Trapped in a hell mostly of my own making."

"Leah..."

"No, it's fine. It's not like any of you are wrong. I _am_ a bitter harpy. The things I do, the things I think. What I put Sam through every night. I'm not surprised you all hate me. Can't blame you, really. I'd hate me, too."

"Why do you do that, Leah?" he ventured, cautiously. "Why put Same through all that?"

"Yeah, right. Like you really want to know."

"I do."

She rolled her eyes. "You'll probably just go squeal to the pack. Just what they need, more reason to look at me like a freak."

"I'm not going to do that, I swear. I'm just... trying to understand."

She didn't say anything, just looked away from him.

"Leah, please?"

She sighed. "Fine."

She was quiet for a moment, collecting her thoughts, and again Jacob waited patiently.

"I was almost getting better for a while. I still had school, and I could avoid Sam and Emily. I wouldn't take any of her phone calls, and eventually she just stopped trying. They both did. I had my memories to deal with, but nothing fresh to open the wounds. I still thought about him constantly, but I could make it through a whole day without crying. Not great progress, but progress just the same.

Daddy was the only one who really seemed to get it. Mom feels bad, but she looks at it the same way the rest of the reservation does. Poor Leah, but it's fate. Sad Leah, but Sam and Emily are so happy... It's destiny, it's custom, and my 'situation,'" she spat out the word like she'd heard it far too many times before, "is just a little setback

Dad got it, though. It didn't matter that it technically wasn't Sam's choice, he understood that it didn't make it hurt any less. He'd tell me not to worry, that Sam didn't imprint on somebody else because I wasn't good enough for him, but because he wasn't good enough for me. I don't think I ever really believed him, but everyone was so focused on Sam and Emily's happiness. Dad made it seem okay to focus on my own."

"Your dad was a great man, Leah."

"Yeah, he was. But he's gone. Dead. And I'm a _werewolf, _and the precious balance I'd found was gone, just like that.

I didn't know anything about werewolves. I mean, I knew Seth was one, knew the legends were real, but that was about it. Seth didn't like to talk about it much, at least not in front of me. I know he's heard me, sometimes, in my room, crying. He doesn't like to mention Sam in front of me if he can help it. I don't know if he really cares, or if he just doesn't know how to deal with crying girls," she shook her head, chuckling softly at her brother. Then she continued.

"So then I'm a freaking_ werewolf_, and I find out all of you can hear my thoughts."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh. Remember the night I first changed?"

"Kind of..."

"It was awful. I had no idea how it all worked. I'm on the forest floor, withering in pain, and then Sam's in my head and I can hear everything and so can he. We were always so... in tune to each other when we were together. I guess it didn't go away at all, or maybe it was because it was all new, but I heard everything all at once, everything he thought and felt about Emily... things I don't think he even realized he was thinking... memories they share that made me want to throw myself off a cliff."

"I don't remember hearing anything like that in his head that night."

She shrugged. "I don't know why I heard it and the rest of you didn't. Maybe 'cause you guys wouldn't care. Maybe I was looking for it. I don't know. All I know is I heard it, and the rules changed."

"How so?"

"I... I spent all that time, building back a balance in my life that was really no balance at all. To me it was progress, only crying myself to sleep every other night, but to everyone else..."

"You didn't want Sam to see it?"

"Yeah. It seemed easier to let him think that I hadn't moved on at all, rather than know that I'd been trying to move on and was failing miserably,"

"So that's why you think all those things?"

"I didn't want you all to see how sad I really was. How pathetic I was. I can handle being a freak, but I don't want pity. I may be broken, but I was never made of glass. I figured a bunch of boys wouldn't understand.

And Sam felt so... guilty; it's almost ridiculous. But it doesn't stop him from thinking about Emily every night. I figured blunt anger is a good defense mechanism. Sam gets to feel less guilty this way. Imagine how guilty he'd feel if I burst into tears every night during patrol." She rolled her eyes at this.

Jacob laughed a little in spite of himself. "Sorry, I'm just trying to picture a werewolf crying."

"Yeah, well. It's not selfless. I know I'm being a bitch, thinking the things I do. But when I first changed, I panicked. Dad was gone, I had nobody to talk to, I was a freaky female werewolf. It's awful, I get that, but it was just... easier that way. And the more you all hate me, the more I could hate all of you and that made it even easier."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For not realizing."

"Please. I'm not a saint or something. I'll be the first to admit that my motives are all mostly selfish. Hell hath no fury and all that."

"Still. You're a part of the pack. We should have known. We should have... I don't know... paid better attention or something," he said, feeling like an idiot, unable to believe they'd all written her off so quickly.

"Whatever, Jake. It's not a big deal. I kind of feel like a jackass now, anyway. I don't know why I just dumped all that on you. We don't exactly have too many heart-to-hearts."

"It's fine, Leah. You can tell me anything. I want to be here for you."

She raised one eye brow at him, skeptically. "Why? I was too upset to question it earlier, but why _are_ you being touchy-feely all of a sudden?"

"I..."

"I mean, til now, all you've ever done since I became a werewolf is constantly remind me that I'm the biggest bitch on the planet."

"Well... I..."

"Jake. Why are you here? Why did you follow me tonight?"

Her eyes narrowed at him, face set, quietly demanding an answer. The look he gave her was one of slight terror. He didn't know where to begin, but couldn't hold it in any longer, so he blurted it out loudly, in a rush.

"I imprinted."


	4. Chapter 4

If possible, Leah's eyes narrowed even more. "On who?"

"You."

"Damn it, Jake!" she screeched, instantly hitting him on the head the second the syllable left his mouth. He winced, rubbing the spot where she'd hit him, though not altogether surprised by her reaction.

"You imprint? On me?! Seriously, Jake! And here I was thinking maybe, just maybe, you were here because of your own free will! Even if you'd said you were here because Sam made you, even that I could accept, but this?!"

"Leah, c'mon, don't..."

"Don't what?! This is ridiculous!"

"I'm here because I _want_ to be here, Leah!" he said, grabbing onto her shoulders, forcing her to look at him as she struggled against him to stand and, he guessed, flee.

"No, you're not. You're here because you _imprinted_. Because some funny little feeling is forcing you."

"No, it's not, I..."

"See, if _I_ had imprinted, that I could handle. But not. You have to go and imprint on _me_! You know you're pathetic when even fate feels the need to set you up on a pity date," she said sarcastically, throwing her head back to yell into the air. "Thanks, fate! Thanks a lot! Really appreciate it! But if you're really serious about making up for screwing me over, try sending Orlando Bloom next time!!"

Jacob couldn't help himself from rolling his eyes at her theatrics, a move Leah didn't miss. "Honestly, Jake. What were you expecting?"

"Exactly this, I guess."

"Well, what am I supposed to do? Fall into your arms and forget about Sam? Pretend like I'm suddenly madly in love with you?"

"No..."

"Well then what, Jake?"

He sighed. "I don't know."

"Neither do I."

How long they sat there in the clearing, each in their own thoughts, neither could tell. Jacob knew there were no easy answers, but he also knew he was bound to her, plain and simple. The longer he sat with her, the more he knew that, fate or no fate, he wouldn't want it any other way. Finally he broke the silence.

"Maybe there's a reason for all this."

"How so?"

"Maybe... me being me... and you being you... maybe I'm supposed to help you, or we're supposed to help each other."

"Meaning...?"

"I... I guess... Well, I know how you feel. When I ran away a couple weeks ago, when I was running from Bella, the pain I felt... and now..."

"It all melts away when you look in my beautiful eyes?" she snorted.

"Well, no. I mean, your eyes _are_ beautiful. Yes, even when you roll them like that, but the point is, even with the imprint, thinking about Bella still hurts some. I think imprinting made it duller, but it's still there. And I think that's the point."

"What's the point?"

"That I know how you feel. It's like I have to feel that pain, I had to go through all that so I could be what you need. I don't think you're supposed to fall in my arms and forget about Sam. We're not supposed to be Sam and Emily. I think it's more like... Quil and Claire in a way."

"You're supposed to make me peanut butter sandwiches and play tea party with me til I turn eighteen?"

"No, smartass," he laughed as she grinned at him. "What I mean is that imprinting's not always about love, at least not at first. It's about being whatever that person needs; brother, friend, lover, whatever. You don't need a knight in shining armor right now, Leah."

"Really. Then what do I need?"

"...I think you need a friend."

"Yeah," she said softly. "One of those might be nice."

"I have every intention of being a hell of a lot more than that when you're ready, but for now, you need a friend, and that's what I'll be."

"I'm broken, Jake," she said, gazing down at the ground. "I've been pretty broken for a while. Are you so sure you can fix me? Are you sure you even want to try?"

"Yes," he said firmly, lifting her chin to look her in the eyes. "I'm going to help you. And maybe helping you will help me, too. We can help each other."

"How do you know this isn't just going to blow up in our faces? How can you be so certain?"

"I'm not, really. All I know is you're it for me now. Everything. It's you. And, hell, we've both tried everything else."

"I guess..."

"So. Friends?"

"With the possibility of more when I'm done crying over Sam?"

"With the possibility of more when you're done crying over Sam."

"I cry over Sam a lot, you know."

"I know," he said, taking her face in his hands gently, brushing away a few stray tears from her cheeks.

"And you don't mind that? Nor the fact that I'm not sure when it'll stop?"

"Nope. Well, it kind of makes me want to rip his face off a little, but no, I don't mind, as long as I can hold you when you cry."

"Cheeseball."

"It's magic, baby."

"Such a loser," she said with a groan, though a little smile had appeared on her face. "And you're still not over Bella?"

"Not completely, but I will be."

"So, friends for now?"

"Friends for now."

"I feel like we should shake on this."

"I've got a better idea," he said with a grin. Cupping her face, he leaned over to kiss her. It was a short kiss, simple, but deep and full of promise. When Jacob pulled away, Leah was embarrassed to find herself a little breathless.

"Yep, cheeseball," she said, though there was no denying the fluttering in her stomach.

He just smirked.

"Oh my god, you're such a guy. Don't look so proud of yourself, I might have to hit you again."

"I might find you more threatening if you weren't blushing and naked."

"What?" she said, looking down at herself, and then back up at him and his smirk, her eyes wide.

"_SHIT_! I didn't put my dress back on after I phased! Shit! Quit laughing, Jake, it's not funny!"

"Aw, c'mon Leah, it's a good look for you."

"Shut up! And turn around, will you?! Why the hell didn't you say something earlier?!"

He looked her up and down, appreciatively. "Can you blame me?"

"Jackass!! Didn't I tell you to turn around?! And stop smirking like that!"

Jacob laughed as he stood up. He picked up her dress and held it out to her, his other hand covering his eyes. "Here. I won't peek, I swear."

"Jackass."

"What can I say? You're beautiful."

She just smiled and shook her head. "You know what? I've got a better idea," she said, pulling his hand away from his eyes, beckoning him with a smile and a jerk of her head. "Come on."

She phased back into wolf-form and took off though the trees. Grinning, Jacob took off his shorts, fastened them to his leg and, phasing, took off after her through the woods for the second time._** "Right behind you," **_he thought.

"_**Always?"**_

"_**Always."**_

As they ran through the forest together, they could hear Sam's thoughts coming through from somewhere in the distance.

"_**Take care of her, Jake, or I'm going to have to break my own rules and pummel you."**_

"_**No problem, Captain."**_

"_**Leah, I'm sor.."**_

"_**I know, Sam. I know. And hey, do me a favor?"**_

"_**Anything."**_

"_**Tell Emily... tell her I changed my mind... that is, if she'll still have me."**_

"_**Of course. And Leah?"**_

"_**Yeah, Sam?"**_

"_**Welcome home."**_

"_**Thanks."**_


End file.
